Joint Resolution Proposing the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

This item consists of the resolution proposing the Fourteenth Amendment, which was ratified July 9, 1868, and ensures that all former slaves be granted U.S. citizenship and have all the rights and privileges as any other citizen.

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14th Amendment

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution was written in 1865 and proposed to the states for ratification. This amendment guarantees rights of citizenship, due process, and equal protection under the law to all citizens. It was ratified in 1868.

Text adapted from “Eight Key Documents on Civil Rights” in the November/December 1978 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.

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